Before this week, K&L Gates already was offering CLE credit for certain live webcasts, but a technology gap prevented it from offering credits to lawyers who viewed prior presentations, Berardi said.

To overcome this technology gap, K&L Gates partnered with InReach, a provider of continuing education technologies, to set up a mechanism that prompts the lawyer to give feedback periodically throughout a CLE presentation. That way, the lawyers confirm they are present and paying attention. As a result, lawyers can log in to K&L Gates’ HUB site from anywhere at anytime to earn CLE credits — as long as they have Internet access.

“If technology can allow individuals to watch movies whenever and wherever they want … why shouldn’t the same model be applied to help in-house legal counsel?” the firm asked in a press release.

Berardi, who believes that soon many more law firms will post CLE videos online, said the system could force lawyers to pay better attention than they would at in-person seminars, where they are free to multitask on their laptops or smartphones during a presentation.

cause everyone is now connected on the Web and technology has matured to a place where it can be used to create learning programs that adapt to students’ needs, Wade said, online platforms can provide a compelling educational alternative.

And the momentum behind online education isn’t expected to let up. According to Harvard Business School professor and disruptive innovation expert Clayton Christensen, half of North American higher education will move online in the next ten years, followed by half of K-12 education by 2019. Several startups (and institutions, including Harvard and MIT through their EdX initiative) are starting to realize that future. Here’s a guide to seven that have made headlines in the past few months.